Karangahape Road

Story

Karangahape Road is one of the main streets in the central business district of Auckland, New Zealand. The massive expansion of motorways through the nearby inner city area – and subsequent flight of residents and retail into the suburbs from the 1960s onwards – turned it from one of Auckland's premier shopping streets into a marginal area with the reputation of a red light district. Now considered to be one of the cultural centres of Auckland, since the 1980s–1990s it has been undergoing a slow process of gentrification, and is now known for off-beat cafes and boutique shops.It runs west–east along a ridge at the southern edge of the Auckland CBD, perpendicular to Queen Street, the city's main street. At its intersection with Ponsonby Road in the west, Karangahape Road becomes Great North Road, at its eastern end it connects to Grafton Bridge.EtymologyKarangahape is a word from the Māori language. Before Europeans appeared Auckland was occupied by several Māori iwi each of whom apparently used the same name for the Karangahape Ridge but with slightly different meanings.The original meaning and origin of the word is uncertain; there are several interpretations – ranging from "winding ridge of human activity" to "calling on Hape". Hape was a Māori chief (or mythical personage) of some importance living over on the Manukau Harbour in a place also called Karangahape. As the ridge was a walking route and was known as Te Ara o Karangahape – The Path of Karangahape – the name possibly indicates the route that was taken to visit him.